Thursday, May 08, 2008

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten

I am deeply happy that I got to see the Mescaleros play Tokyo twice. Much further back, still in the 1980's, I'd guess, I saw Joe with the Pogues at the Commodore. And in my teen years, I even managed to squeeze in a "Cut the Crap" Clash concert (with Joe ridiculing the people sitting in the rafters of the Pacific Coliseum for being passive spectators, when the real action was on the floor; but I'd just scored an original pressing of Triumph of the Ignoroids for a mere $10 at that little collector's record shop that used to be across from the Kootenay Loop, and I wasn't about to take it down there with me). I am very happy to have seen him play as often as I have, and very, very sad that he's gone. I appreciated his later work - especially "Get Down Moses" and almost all of the first Mescaleros album - more than a lot of the Clash stuff, truth be known. Maybe I need to spin "Yalla Yalla" this weekend...

By the way, if the girl with the Joe Strummer tattoo who sometimes worked/ works at Foundation ever reads this, I never got to talk to you again to find out whether you liked the Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros Osaka bootleg I left for you, or if, indeed, you ever received it. I think your coworkers thought I was stalking you - they were very weirdly paranoid. Anyhow, hi.

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About Me

Writer, aging punk, cinephile. Fan of the obscure and outside. ESL teacher, occasional used bookstore guy; zombie when the mood strikes me. Haven't been based in Vancouver for awhile now but "Alienated In The Metrotown Area" is an even worse blogname than I already have. And I still have ties to Maple Ridge (sigh).